The missing Link - part 1
by LINK 2000
Summary: The sequal to my old 'league' trilogy. Ash stumbles accross an old rive... And something much more sinister


Hi everyone! I'm Link 2000, an author of Pokemon fanfics, the last time I wrote one of these was around one or two months ago:My 'League' series, it went down all right with everyone else… getting some good and moderate reviews, so R+R them when you can. Thanks. Anyway, I decided that I might as well write a few more, using a few of the characters I used in my previous fics. So I came up with 'The missing Link', it's quite long, but if you can finish it, please review it. Thanks a lot!

The missing Link

By Link 2000

** **

"Hey, are you sure this is Team Rocket HQ that we've just sneaked into?"

"Has to be."

"Seems deserted though."

"That's 'cos it's night time. Just stay clear of those security cameras"

"Yeah, I… WHAT THE HELL'S THAT?"

"I… I dunno, it… I think it's a… a Pokemon."

"Impossible! Ever seen a Pokemon with a long purple tail decked out in metal armour?"

"Shut up! Not so loud! And don't stand up like that!"

"What?"

"Aw ****! You've gone and set off the alarm system!"

"****!"

"Shaddup! Let's get the hell out of here!"

"Hey… It's waking up!"

"What?"

"That… that… thing! It's seen us!"

"What the… OH MY GOD! NOOO!"

Ash Ketchum woke with a start, sweat all over him, he checked his wristwatch for the time, but it was much to dark to see, so he turned on the electronic light button, immediately, light flooded over it. 3:56, his watch read, Ash groaned and turned off the light, but for some reason, he felt wide awake, he slammed his eyes together so much that they hurt, but he couldn't get to sleep, no matter how hard he tried. He tried to remember what woke him up so suddenly. It was a dream… or a nightmare, Ash couldn't tell, the details of the dream were quickly leaving his memory. He remembered his latest rival, Link… his best friend Apocalypse… They were in trouble, and then… Ash suddenly fell asleep, all details of his dream gone.

"Bad night Ash?" Asked Ash's friend Misty, as Ash emerged from his sleeping bag a bit shaken.

"I guess… Well, I dunno, I can't remember."

"You must've woken up halfway through the night or something." Said Ash's other friend: Brock, bending over a frying pan on a fire.

"Yeah… I guess this life of sleeping rough under the stars isn't thateasy." Replied Ash, then, suddenly, he bent over the frying pan and said, "Wow, that smells great Brock! What's for breakfast?"

"Bacon and fried bread!" Replied the former Gym trainer of Pewter City. "Only it may be a bit burnt."

"Yeah… Well, I'm so hungry, I could eat a Horsea." Smiled Ash, licking his lips. "Only joking, Misty!" He said hurriedly, as Misty glanced nervously into her bag which contained her Pokeballs.

Ash felt stuffed. He had managed third helpings of breakfast, and his Pikachu had managed fourth helpings of Pokemon food and was still going strong.

"Pikachu! Stop eating all that, you're getting fat!" Mumbled Ash, his mouth full of bread.

_Chu, Pikachu Pi Pikachu ka!_ (Hey, It helps prevent indigestion mate!)

"I wish I knew what he was saying!" Said Ash, "He might just be insulting me!"

_Pi Pi Chu Pikachu Pika? Pika Pika! _(you can't understand me? Heh heh.)

After breakfast, Ash stood up and yawned.

"Where are we off to now?"

Brock checked his pocket map. Ash and Misty waited. A few minutes later, Brock moaned and turned his map upside down. Still, Ash Misty, and now the (finally) full Pikachu waited. Ten minutes later, Brock turned to them a frowned.

"Well, I guess that we should head for that forest over there, only thing is… They left it out on the map, it's almost as if it was never explored."

"Or if it ever existed." Added Ash.

"Not so." Countered Brock, "The map has a gap in the middle of it, where the forest should've been put in, only, it wasn't. Something strange is happening, that's for sure."

"Awwww!" Groaned Misty, "What are we gonna do now?"

"Maybe we should just go round it." Suggested Brock. Suddenly, Ash clenched his fists and grinned.

"You have got to be kidding! We're not going anywhere, 'till we've found out what's so strange about this forest!

_Pi! Pika Pika!_ (Yeah! I agree!)

Brock looked doubtful, then he said "Well, there is a small village a few miles off this forest, the inhabitants obviously don't want to be any closer to it, I wonder why?"

"M… Maybe it's haunted by scary ghost Pokemon!" Squealed Misty.

"Great!" Grinned Ash, "Maybe I'll catch one!" He thought back to when he had owned his Haunter, and smiled.

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Said Brock.

They soon got to a village named Monteratatat. Ash could see the looming forest in the distance. He smiled. If he could find out about it, he would find it in this place. He looked over his shoulder.

"Hey look!" He shouted. "A Pokemon centre!"

"Well, that sounds like a good place to start, I suppose." Said Brock.

"Aw guys." Moaned Ash, "Where's your sense of adventure, this'll be great!"

"Yeah… I guess so." Brock replied doubtfully.

Ash had seen bigger Pokecentres in his time, but for a small village, this one was huge, it seemed to have lots of people and Pokemon inside though, so Ash decided that it might be a sort of meeting place for the town's inhabitants. He then walked up to the nurse Joy, and handed her his Pokeballs and his Pikachu. Out of the corner of his eye, Ash saw a blob going slowly crimson, he guessed that it was Brock. He then leaned forward to her, and asked.

"There seems to be a forest just a few miles off here that doesn't seem to be marked on a map… Do you know why?"

The nurse suddenly dropped the tray that she was holding, she turned round, fear in her eyes.

"Why… why would you want to know?"

"Because we're going there!" Grinned Ash.

"You can't!" The nurse cried.

"Look, all I want is a little inside information!" Said Ash, getting irritable. Suddenly, a man walked up to him.

"Here, sit down." He said, pointing at his table. Ash nervously sat down, then the man spoke.

"The forest north of here is a nice place, well, it was a nice place, now we don't know, we haven't been there for weeks."

"Why?" Asked Ash.

"Well, it was half a year ago to this day." Said the man, "Half the inhabitants of this town… me included, spotted agents from the Pokemon gangster organisation, Team Rocket, moving into the forest, later, that same night, we saw a very large helicopter land in the forest, this confused us, as usually, the forest is far too dense for even a leaf to float through… sometimes. Well, later that month, we saw more and more Rocket Agents entering the forest, and we saw strange lights going into the sky. We found it safe to assume that right under our noses, Team Rocket had built a large building in the centre of the forest."

"Explaining the lack of trees in the centre!" Exclaimed Ash.

"Exactly!" Said the man. "Then, we put our heads together… Hoards of agents entering and exiting each day… that helicopter, the lights. I really think that it's safe to assume that the building is the team Rocket base!"

Ash gasped. "No… never. I thought that it was in Celedon city, the gambling area."

The man chuckled, "That was temporary, I really think that Team Rocket have set up here now."

"Hasn't anyone tried to stop them?" Asked Ash.

"We've been far too scared." Explained the man, "But last evening two young trainers went off to find and beat them… They haven't returned yet, I really beg of you, don't follow them."

Ash gasped, he suddenly remembered something, it was a dream, he remembered it well now, it was 3:56 in the morning when he was awoken by it, it included two boys he had known, they were in… Ash tried to remember, in… in… in… in Team Rocket base! He immediately asked the man.

"Can you remember their names? Any Pokemon they had?"

"Well," Said the man, "One of them had a Clefable… called it Aesop. The other had a…" That was all Ash needed, he'd known that Link owned a Clefable called Aesop. He immediately ran over to Misty and Brock, and told them the news.

"No kidding?" Said Brock, bewildered.

"Sounds dangerous." Mumbled Misty.

"Ah, come on!" Shouted Ash, "If Link and Apocalypse can do it, we can too!"

"But there's no saying that they did make it." Disagreed Brock, "Anyway, make what? If we could do this, what exactly is this?"

This stumped Ash, after a few minutes of thinking, he came up with an answer.

"We'll put a stop to their plans!"

"What plans?" Asked Misty, "No… don't tell me Ash, I don't care what you're trying to say, but I won't go, that's final."

"Me neither." Confirmed Brock.

"Aw… c'mon guys." Squirmed Ash, "We need action in our lives!"

_Pi? Pika Pi Pi Pikachu Ka Ka Pika Kachu Pikachu?_ (What? So spending a few hours in a sunken ship, confronting ghosts of lost maidens, falling into a cave underneath the ground and finding prehistoric Pokemon, and being chased by a flock of spearows isn't action?)

"Well," Began Ash irritably, "You two can stay behind at the Pokecentre, me and Pikachu are gonna sneak in and bust Team Rocket Once And For All! Right?"

_Pika, Pikachu pi chu, Pikachu pika pika pi._ (Yeah, might as well, sounds like a laugh)

Ash got back his other Pokemon, grabbed some food and drink, took a look at the looming forest, took a deep breath, and moved on.

It was dark by the time Ash reached the forest. The forest itself was dark and creepy. Ash was walking through it for one hour, when suddenly he froze. He nodded at Pikachu, and they both crouched down on the floor. They heard something. Voices.

"So let me get this straight, 18 hours ago, someone let off the alarm."

"No. It was two people, both quite small."

"How'd you know? Security cameras?"

"Well, yeah, but also the bosses new Pokemon saw it."

"Hah! My Onix is still badly hurt after that thing got it."

"They got away."

"What? How?"

"One of the kids had this flying pokemon… an Aerodactyll."

"A what?"

"Prehistoric pokemon. And d'you know what they did?"

"No… what?"

"They got on it, and flew straight through the corridor!"

"Never!"

"Yeah, but they're still inside."

"How'd ya know?"

The voices went away. Ash smiled, he knew the whole story now. But how could Link and Apocalypse have stayed in the building, he wished he heard the rest of the conversation. He suddenly saw lights, he and Pikachu grinned, then they ran towards it, they tumbled into a clearing. Ash gasped.

It had to be Team Rocket HQ, the whole place was made of shining steel, it had one hell of a large door, a very large door, just like the windows, locked…

Locked? Ash gasped in horror, so that was why the two friends were still inside the building, the whole place was sealed off, it was impossible to get in or out… Unless you were a Rocket agent, from what Ash saw, they had key cards that they used to get in and out. He needed to get one fast. But first he had to prevent getting seen by the squads of security Rockets, patrolling with vicious looking Pokemon. He also had to evade the two Rocket agents that had just spotted him, two agents wearing white instead of black, suddenly the two Rockets' spoke.

Prepare for trouble!

Make that double!

To protect the world from devastation!

To unite all people within our nation!

To denounce the evils of truth and love!

To extend our reach to the stars above!

Jesse!

James!

Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!

Surrender now or prepare to fight!

Meeeeooowth, that's right!

"So brat! All on your own today!" Smiled Jesse.

"So give us your Pikachu, or you'll pay!" Said James.

"We've been asked to guard the new base!"

"So I'm afraid that we just can't manage a chase."

"Hey you two! This is not the time to talk in rhyme!" Shouted Meowth.

"Shut up, you little furball!" Snarled Jesse. She suddenly looked at Ash. "Twerp, I can't see your two pals anywhere, have they given up on you?"

"Of course they…" Began Ash, then suddenly, he had an idea. "Yeah, they have." He groaned in a very dramatic way. "which is why," He began, "I would like to join Team Rocket."

_Pikachu? Pika Pika? Chu, Pika Pi_ (What? Are you mad? Oh, I see)

Jesse and James looked shocked at first, then pleased.

"We see kid." Smiled Jesse, Ash noticed that she no longer called him twerp. "Well, I think that is possible, you'll have to see the Boss."

"Uhhhh, where would he be?" Asked Ash.

"Room 1, 2nd floor, 5th block sector AA23." Smiled James, "Only the _best_ Rockets' know that."

"How will I get in? Asked Ash with a smile."

"Here Kid." Smiled Jesse, she handed him a card that read: Member no. 122387904. "My old access card", she explained.

"Thanks." Smiled Ash, "Oh, and tell your _Boss_ that he's a stupid old retard and he can stuff the idea of ever taking over the world. Bye!" And with that, he ran off. Leaving the three Rockets' wondering what just happened.

The Keycard worked perfectly, and within minutes, Ash and Pikachu were cautiously walking down the empty corridors of Team Rocket HQ. He had to find Link and Apocalypse, and then he would find, and defeat 'The Boss'.

_Chuu!?_ (Hell, it's spooky here)

"Don't worry Pikachu!" Smiled Ash, "Those two are so stupid they'll never set off the alarm."

_Pi! Pika Pika PIKA! Pikachu Pi. _(NO! That's not what I meant! Good point though.)

Suddenly, the duo heard a loud bleeping sound, they looked up and saw a large string of flashing lights going all down the corridor, a static voice came out of nearby loudspeakers

_INTRUDER ALERT! YOUNG BOY AND PIKACHU ILLEGALLY PATROLLING ROCKET BASE! SHOULD BE GOING DOWN SECTOR 5ASD33F!_

__"Wooaahh!" Screamed Ash, "No way!" He suddenly looked up at the sign hanging above him, it read, in clear black letters:

Sector 5ASD33F

**END OF PART ONE**


End file.
